Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliNative
I think Montreal is pretty secure and I like it better than Toronto (I'm a bit of a Francophile & Montreal is a charming city, as is Quebec) but deep down isn't there some resentment that Toronto has grown faster over the last few decades? Even as late as 1970, wasn't Montreal the largest city in Canada? Was the huge debt load for the 1976 Olympics a factor in slowing growth, or was it the fear of Quebec separation in the 1970s? Now Montreal is growing gangbusters again, and many skyscrapers are rising. I'm happy to see that.
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Quebec separation threats from 1970 to 2000 brought Montreal's economy almost to a standstill. Visiting Montreal at the peak of this time was depressing. "A Louer" (For Rent) signs were everywhere and the city looked grubby. If Quebec had separated in 1995 as it got so close to doing, I guarantee Montreal would have gone through a deep depression that would have taken decades to recover from. I visited Boston in the fall of 1995 on business, just weeks before the referendum, and Americans were oblivious to the potential catastrophe that came ever so close to happening.
It is a lesson that the UK failed to understand through its foolish referendums on Scottish independence and Brexit. As the separation generation dies off, Montreal is again booming. It is so surprising seeing the city shine after all those years of decline, the new confidence and how welcoming the city is again now that language obsessions and tensions have faded. The city now understands that if they want to be a world class city, they need to welcome people, whether tourists, or new residents.
The Quebec separation movement is the reason why Toronto took over as Canada's premier city. There was a clear flow of people, and money between the two cities particularly in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Montreal's appeal relates to its earlier history as the most cosmopolitan city in Canada, that had a rich cultural, industrial and business base. Toronto historically was a WASP city (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and despite that it has become arguably the most ethnically diverse city in the world, its 'stiff upper lip' background still lingers. This is clearly lessening over time.